Electric lighting fixture



Feb. 10, 1942. A. F. PIEPER 2,272,215

ELECTRIC LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed June 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 #3 @M 5) N L m) .2 H E hi {Q INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Feb. 10, 19426 IE R 2,272,275

ELECTRIC LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed June 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i w fi fig ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 10, 1 942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE npno'rmo LIGHTING FIXTURE- Alphonse F. Pieper, Brighton, N. Y. Application June 13, 1940, Serial No. 340,235

(Cl. 240-1) Q 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an electric lighting fixture such as a table or floor lamp, or ceiling or wall light, with particular reference to the type of construction employing an elongated or tubular light element such as a fluorescent lamp or bulb, and it has for its purpose to afford an arrangement that will firmly support such, an

elongated light element in any type of lighting fixtures or lamps, while at the same time permitting maximum effective output from the light elements.

In many'fixtures as heretofore constructed .for supporting fluorescent tubes or other elongated light elements, an opaque frame or housing extends along and overlies a considerable portion of the surface of the light element, thus obstructing a large part of the light and lessening the output eificiency, and it is a particular purpose of this invention to afford supporting means of such form as to carry the necessary sockets for holding the ends of the light element while overlying but a very small portion of its light emitting surface and interfering ,to only a negligible extent with the passage of light in all directions. A further object of the invention is to aifor supporting means for an elongated light element that is practical, of economical construc' tion, and which is adaptable for use in connection with a floor or table lamp, or as part of a ceiling or wall fixture, for holding one or more elongated light elements in such manner that there are no appreciable losses resulting from the supporting means being located in the path of the light.

More specifically, the invention is designed to afford a simple and practical supporting means that utilizes a slender hollow or tubular member of small cross-sectional area or diameter, approximately one-third the diameter of the light element or less, the hollow or tubular member being suitably provided with light element sockets and connected to the fixture or lamp support, while the conductors may extend through the interior of the hollow or tubular member.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed outin the claim following the specification.

. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention as appliedto a ceiling or wall fixture for a single light tube;

Y Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view with the front wall of the housing removed;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation, partiall broken away, showing the application of the invention to a ceiling or wall fixture designed to hold two light tubes;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same, and

Fig. '7 is a view in end elevation.

This application is a modification of the structure shown in my application filed May 8, 1940, Serial No. 334,023, Patent/No. 2,223,874, Dec. 3, 1940, which disclosesa lamp structure including light tube supporting meanssimilar to the disclosure of this application as a part thereof, and the present invention is susceptible of application to such a lamp employing one or more fiuorescent tubes or other elongated light elements, or a ceiling or wall fixture such as disclosed in this application and employing one or more light elements.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views, and to the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, l designates a housing or carrier adapted to containthe' reactors that are conventionally employed with fluorescent light elements, while 2 is a connector or threaded plug forconnecting the fixture with r a conventional threaded socket.

The carrier or housing I carries the supporting means for the light element or fluorescent tube," the latter being designated at 3 and held between sockets 4 which are mounted upon or carried by the brackets 5. Each bracket 5 may be formed as part of a thimble 6 that is permanently secured over the end of a slender member 1 that is preferably hollow or tubular, and

the cross-sectional area or diameter of which is only one-third orless that of the fluorescent tube 3 shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The hollow or tubular member 1 extends through the housing I transversely thereof in .juxtarelation to its bottom wall, and is provided with an opening 8 through which the conductors extend from the housin I to the opposite ends of the hollow member I and thence through the thimble 6 and brackets 5 to the sockets A.

In order to impart maximum lighting efficiency in this type of fixture, the hollow member or tube 1 is arranged in close proximity to the fluorescent bulb 3, extending endwise thereof, while the fluoposition, as shown in Fig. l.

rescent tube abuts the outer surface of the bottom wall of the housing I when in operative This arrangement protects the fluorescent glass tube by bracing it at the center through contact with the bottom of the housing I and thus reduces the chance of breakage or damage to the tube. It will be understood that the hollow or tubular member I is of sumciently stiff metal or other materiel to support the light element firmly and to hold the latter rigidly, without likelihood of accidental breakage in any lamp standard or fixture.

In the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the hollow or tubular member I is permanently attached to the carrier or housing I by being electrically welded or otherwise affixed thereto, and the conductors are entirely concealed from view by the tube 1 and the end brackets carried thereby. The fluorescent bulb may be readily inserted in operative position between the sockets 4, as shown in Fig. 1, or removed therefrom by a slight downward pressure on the bulb 3, referring to Fi s. 1 and 3.

When in operative position, it will be observed that the tubular member 1 interposes a minimum obstruction area in the path of light passing upwardly from the fluorescent tube 3, so that practically all the light from said tube passes either downwardly, to the sides thereof. or upwardly with a. maximum light output efliciency and with markedly better results than where the fluorescent tube has its entire upper surface or a considerable portion thereof covered by a supporting housing, as for instance where the tube is mounted within a housing having top, side andend walls, and open only at the bottom, whereas in the present structure, the light is projected equally in all directions with a barely appreciable loss due to the small cross-sectional area of the supporting member I.

Such a supporting means may be attached in any suitable way to a lamp standard, as in my co-pending application referred to above, or to any electric fixture intended to function with one or more such elongated lighting elements, and in the arrangement shown in Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive,

there is illustrated a modified adaptation intended for use where there are two light elements to be carried by a. ceiling or wall fixture.

In this modification, H designates a carrier or housing having a threaded plug II for attachment to any conventional threaded socket, while II is a hollow member or tube extending-transversely of the housing II at the bottom thereof. Said tube II is attached to the housing I l in such a manner as to permit slight relative rotation between the tube 13 and the housing I I, in order to permit relative turning between the housing ll and the supporting means for a purpose that will appear presently. This may be accomplished by seating the tube l3 in a socket formed in the bottom of the housing, and retaining it frictionally in place by a strap I9.

1'! designates hollow brackets extending in opposite directions from tube i3 and including thimbles I! that fit over and are attached to the supporting tube It, while It designate sockets carried by the brackets l4 and arranged to support the fluorescent lamps i1 and 18 respectively. The conductors extend from the sockets it through the hollow brackets l4 and supporting tube It, thence through an opening at the center of the tube It into the housing il in which are provided the conventional reactors.

By turning the supporting tube l3 slightly within the housing II, and thus tilting the brackets I, the parts can be arranged so that the fluorescent bulbs i1 and 18 are in different horizontal planes, thus reducing interference between the light from the two bulbs and increasing the lighting emciency of the unit. The supporting tube l3 and the parts arried thereby are maintained in any such posi ion of adjustment by the frictional engagement between the tube i 3 and the portion of the housing I! against which it is held.

While the invention has'been described with reference to the structural embodiments herein disclosed, it is not confined to the details set forth, and this application is intended to cover any further modifications or departures that may come within the purposes of the improvement or the scope of the following claim.

I claim: In an electric fluorescent lighting fixture, th combination with an elongated housing having a threaded connector at its outer end, of a straight slender tubular one-piece member extending through said housing on both sides thereof transversely of its longitudinal axis, the central portion of said tubular member being located in juxtarelation to the bottom wall of said housing,

. brackets extending laterally from the ends of said tubular member, sockets carried by said brackets, and an elongated fluorescent light element supported between said brackets and located parallel to said tubular member in proximity to the end wall of the housing and to the tubular member, said tubular member having an opening in the portion within said housing, said opening being directed toward the outer end of the housing, and conductors extending from the housing through said opening and through said tubular member in both directions to the ends of the tubular member and to said sockets.

ALPHONSE I". PIEPER. 

